By KEMI KASUMU
Microsoft’s decision to set up a $200m engineering hub in Nigeria is a major vote of confidence in the country under President Muhammadu Buhari.
According to the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) in a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, this development, alongside the $537m investment by the United States of America in a new consulate office, shows that Nigeria is indeed the place to be for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
“News that Microsoft and the US government are investing $737m in physical structures in Nigeria is nothing but a major vote of confidence in the country.
“It also clearly shows that the country remains the place to be for investment and a confirmation that a lot is happening on President Buhari’s watch to make Nigeria more attractive for foreign investments.
“For the avoidance of doubt, Microsoft’s Africa Development Centre is the American company’s first engineering hub in Africa and is expected to train five million citizens and provide 27,000 jobs over the next three years.
“It is a reflection of the hard work of the Buhari administration through its ‘Ease of Doing Business’ Initiative which is opening up the country for more foreign entities to come into the country”, the statement added.
BMO also used the opportunity to take potshots at the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for its penchant for demarketing the country.
“Only recently, PDP mindlessly described the country as a failed state under Buhari, but these two major investments are a rebuff of efforts by the opposition and other naysayers to tarnish the country’s image.
“Yes we know that there are challenges but it is gratifying that the US is clear-minded enough to appreciate what the Buhari administration is doing to the extent of choosing Nigeria as the site of its largest diplomatic building complex in the world.
“We make bold to say that if the country is a failed state or under the threat of failing, the US would never consider a physical investment of more than half a billion dollars that would take seven years to come to reality.
“It is also interesting to know that the two projects will massively boost the local economy in terms of direct and indirect jobs, with the US consulate alone employing 2,500 Nigerians in different roles as well as putting $95m in the economy, according to the US authorities.
“We have always known that the negativity that is being championed in the country is a political contrivance to undermine the good works of the Buhari administration, but we are glad that the international community knows far more than opposition elements and their allies”.
The group also reaffirmed its belief that President Buhari would leave the country in. better shape than he met it in 2015.
